Slow Down at Work

Earlier this year, I began renting an office space in a nearby town. The reason was twofold: the first being that I needed some space from my needy dogs, and the second was to have more room to spread out. As my career has grown in writing, I've noticed that the small real estate I've carved out in the spare room just isn't enough anymore. I have moved on from having my life being relegated to digital desktop files; I began to bring more and more of myself into the physical detritus that somehow becomes piles and piles of notebooks, Post-Its and scraps of papers.

My new office allows me to take up an enormous amount of room for the various assignments I'm working on at any given time. I have room to be messy, to sit and think. I can chew on the end of a pencil while I am deep in thought. I can scribble any passing idea into a nearby journal and hope it makes sense when I type it out properly. More often than not, I am playing basketball with the wastepaper bin. But it has all been a meditation in slowing down, allowing myself to get lost in thought, and surrounding myself in an environment designed for one thing and one thing only: to really get some work done.

I believe heartily in the philosophy of slowing down. I cook most of my dinners from scratch and take an hour to appreciate the process. I live on a farm and it seems that every day I take more moments to look out the window than I do at the ever-growing inbox on my phone. But somehow this same idea never quite translated to work. I spent the majority of my time working against a deadline instead of working towards a goal.

Now, writing comes much easier. So much of my workday is at a desk that allows for me to create instead of feeling cramped and anxious, dreading the next email coming my way. While my day may be a bit slower, with deadlines in flux and projects all going at once, having a space to center myself and think has helped keep the stress at bay. But it hasn't been just a mindset shift—a few products helped to build the foundation of a set-up that has worked for me, personally and professionally.

Having the tableau set every day for me to come in, sit down and put my fingers to a keyboard makes my work that much easier. It's a gentle nudge to start my day, and here are a few items that help when I sit at my chair in the morning, coffee in hand, ready to tackle my to-do list.